Terrorists 'shoot down Syrian jet in Aleppo'

A Syrian warplane has been shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired by terrorists in the Northern Province of Aleppo, a Syrian military source says.

According to Press TV, the unnamed official told state media on Tuesday that the jet was targeted while on a reconnaissance mission and its pilot ejected.

The plane was downed over the Talat al-Iss highland near the village of Eis, south of Aleppo, according to reports.

It was "likely that (al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria) al-Nusra Front shot down the plane and took the pilot," a militant source said, adding that the jet had been hit by heavy machine gun fire.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) also said the downing had been carried out by the Nusra Front terrorist group, saying the terrorists captured the pilot and took him to one of their headquarters in the area.

Social media videos purport to show the pilot parachuting down from the plane and smoke coming from the crash site.

In another development on Tuesday, terrorists fired tens of mortar and rocket shells into the Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood of Aleppo City, killing 14 people and injuring 50 others.

Syria's official news agency SANA quoted local sources as saying that the death toll is expected to rise as some people are still under the debris of three buildings collapsed in the shelling.

ME